1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates, in general, to telephones, and, more specifically, to accessories for telephones which enable control of the telephone operation while the hand set is removed from the receiver.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART:
A conventional telephone includes a hand set having a microphone transmitting for sounds over the telephone network and a receiver for receiving sounds from the telephone network and converting the electrical signals into audible sounds. Such telephones also include a base which may be mounted on the wall or any horizontal surface. The base typically includes a hook switch which is depressed when the hand set is placed on the receiver thereby re-establishing the ringing or dial tone circuit to enable subsequent incoming calls to be received.
Other types of telephones, such as so-called trim-line or Princess type phones, have the dialing push buttons mounted directly in the hand set along with the microphone and receiver. This enables the telephone to be conveniently dialed after the hand set is removed from the base. However, it is sometimes desirable to locate the hand set a considerable distance from the base, particularly for use by invalids, etc. This creates a problem since the hook switch on the base must be depressed after each telephone call to re-establish the ringing or dial tone circuit. This requires that the hand set be replaced on the base and can pose a difficulty for one confined to a bed or unable to conveniently replace the hand set on the base after each telephone call.
To overcome these problems, various telephone control devices have been devised for re-establishing the dial tone circuit when the hand set is located remote from the base. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,379,953 and 4,536,622 disclose telephones having switches or push buttons mounted directly on the hand set for controlling the on-line or off-line operation of the telephone and/or enables the dial tone circuit to be established when the hand set is remote from the base. U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,171 discloses a similar type of telephone accessory which includes a plug-in module which silences the telephone bell at pre-determined times during a 24 hour period.
While these attempts have been somewhat effective in to re-establishing the dial tone circuit when the hand set is away from the base, they require extensive modification to the telephone hand set itself thereby increasing the cost of the telephone or requiring that a new telephone having such a feature be purchased.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a remote telephone control apparatus which overcomes the problems encountered with previously devised attempts to re-establish the dial tone or ringing circuit when the hand set of a telephone is away from the telephone base. It would also be desirable to provide a remote telephone control apparatus which can easily and quickly be attached to any conventional telephone having plug-in cord connectors.